The Teachers background

Bhante Vimala tells us of his background in his own words:

"I began meditation in October, 1974, in San Diego with the practice of the Burmese style of meditation called Vipassana. After a few months of practice, I did a self-retreat for about two weeks and then decided to find a teacher to guide me.

So I went to San Jose, California, to begin meditating with a former Sri Lankan monk and wound up staying at that center for about a year and a half. While there, I met and practiced with an Indian teacher, Munindra, who practiced in Burma for nine years. Munindra is a famous meditation teacher, best known as Joseph Goldstein's mentor. (Joseph is currently the main teacher at the Insight Meditation Society of Barre, Massachusetts.) Under Munindra's guidance, I meditated intensely for nearly 16 hours a day, alternating between walking and sitting each hour.

From San Jose, I went to Hawaii and began teaching meditation to a few students. After two years, I wanted to return to the mainland to continue meditating and to work with people who were dying. I helped to start a Hospice in Escondido, California to teach terminally ill patients how to meditate and to accept the experience of dying.

Following a year of the Hospice work, where I had a chance to work with understanding both pain and death, I went to San Francisco and stayed as a layman in a Burmese monastery to practice with a world-famous teacher by the name of Sayadaw U Silananda. I was, at this time, continuing the Vipassana meditation. At a later time I would continue working with terminally ill and those in depression would often find relief by learning the meditation I taught them.

I took the next few years off to live as an ordinary layman and started my own business as a contractor, building luxury homes. In 1986, after being quite successful in business, I decided to go to Asia to practice meditation intensively. So I left for Thailand, became a monk, and practiced with many different teachers.

Two years later, in 1988, I went to the famous mediation center-Mahasi Center-in Rangoon, Burma. There I did an intensive eight-month retreat, practicing for 22 hours a day. But at that time, Burma was in a difficult social upheaval and, during their revolution, they asked all foreign monks to leave the country. So I left Burma for Malaysia and began teaching meditation at a center that I started there.

In 1990, I returned to Burma for an intensive two-year retreat, alternating walking and sitting meditations for about 18 hours a day. The teacher there told all the yogis to extend our sittings, so I began setting for longer periods of five to eight hours (without moving). After I had experienced all the stages of meditation that a Vipassana practitioner is supposed to experience, I remained unsatisfied and went back to Malaysia. I began instructing many people in meditation, teaching the Loving-Kindness form. This is the style which the Buddha, according to the suttas, taught to the ordinary people who came to listen to him.

Having taught many students this form of meditation, I was asked to join the largest Theravadan monastery in Malaysia, which happened to be a Sri Lankan monastery. There, I taught meditation and gave Dhamma talks to many people. Sometimes as many as 500 people would attend these talks.

At this time, I had the opportunity to meet many Sri Lankan monks and, after long conversations with them, I realized that many of the writings I had been studying in Burma were actually commentaries on the Pali texts, rather than the original texts themselves. The monks said that , upon close examination, some of the ideas conveyed in these commentaries are somewhat different from those contained in the original suttas. Surprisingly, one monk even suggested that I disregard the commentaries and go straight to the Pali texts for the best teachings. Another teacher showed me how to meditate as described in the suttas-a method remarkably different from the forms I had learned.

As I continued meditating on my own, I discovered that my meditation was deeper and progressed faster than ever before. After a few more months of practice, I began teaching meditation according to this form described in the original Pali suttas. I have also written a book, "The Anapanasati Sutta: A Practical Guide to Mindfulness of Breathing and Tranquil Wisdom Meditation" To date, there have been over 1,000,000 copies printed and distributed throughout the world, and I am currently revising and expanding this book. After reading this guide, many students have come to me for meditation instruction.

For about three years, I stayed at the Theravadan temple in Malaysia, and still have over 1000 Malaysian students in varying degrees of deep meditation. I returned to the United States in 1998 and have taught all across the country."

This is the capsule version of his teaching so far. At the very least, Bhante Vimalaramsi's journey into meditation is fascinating. Certainly, the gift he has to offer anyone interested in meditation is of immeasurable value. I encourage you to listen to him with an open, relaxed mind and to receive everything in love and compassion as it is freely offered by him most directly from the Suttas. In respect to the Kalama Sutta I encourage you to: ' Not believe any of what is said because of any reason. Use your own common sense. Take what you can use at this time and add it to your own practice if it improves your meditation. Leave behind for now what you cannot use. This is the customary way of receiving Dhamma in this tradition.

In Metta.

Khema, Kappiya to Bhante Vimalaramsi
March, 2002-2004